In an apparent attempt to burnish her image in the online arena, some pro-Duterte pages and users are claiming that Sheila Sison, lead counsel of Vice President Sara Duterte in her ongoing impeachment trial, is a daughter of legal drama “Ipaglaban Mo” host and veteran lawyer Jose Sison. This is false.
Circulating as early as July 9, a Facebook user posted juxtaposed photos of Sheila and Jose along with the caption that partly reads:
“Marami ang hindi nakakaalam na si Atty. Sheila Sison, isa sa mga counsel ni Vice President Sara Duterte, ay anak ni Atty. Jose C. Sison—ang abogado na nagpasikat sa linyang, “Kapag may katwiran, ipaglaban mo!
(Many people are unaware that Atty. Sheila Sison, one of Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal counsels, is a daughter of Atty. Jose C. Sison, the lawyer who popularized the phrase, “If you’re in the right, fight for it!)”
From July 9 to 10, more pages and netizens—including those who are explicitly supportive of the Dutertes based on their profile names, pictures and bio, as well as the leaning of their posts—were pushing the “like father, like daughter” narrative, saying VP Sara’s lead counsel supposedly inherited her “legal brilliance and competency” from Jose.
Two readers sent a link to an FB post carrying the claim to the VERA Files Misinformation Tip Line for verification.
In a May 5, 2016 opinion piece endorsing his son and co-host Joseph Peter “Jopet” Sison’s congressional bid that time, the legal drama host and The Philippine Star columnist behind A Law Each Day (Keeps Trouble Away) identified Jopet’s siblings as Joel, Jay, Jolly and Jaybee. He noted that they also had an elder sister, Joyce, who had already passed away.
Contrary to the fabricated claims circulating online, Jose likewise mentioned this detail about their family in a Feb. 23, 2024 column about his wife, Josefina “Josie” Sampedro-Sison.
The made-up posts began spreading amid VP Sara’s impeachment trial, in which Sheila, a partner at the Fortun Narvasa & Salazar law firm, leads the 16-lawyer defense team.
A copy of the spurious post published by an FB user generated the highest engagements with 312,700 reactions; 17,600 comments—most netizens actually believing the claim—and 12,000 shares as of writing.
More Filipinos have been deceived by 16 copies from other users and pages, including Inday Sara volunteer (created on May 12, 2026), Inday Sara Duterte 2028 Movement Nationwide- Negros Occidental (May 1, 2026) and DUTERTE SUPREMACY (Feb. 16, 2025, which had also changed its name to Solid VP Inday Sara Duterte once), collectively garnering 41,474 reactions; 3,088 comments and 2,095 shares.
